Top 5 Posts of 2013

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, commented and shared my posts this past year.  Here are the top 5 posts from the year:

1. 5 People Every Team Needs
2. Defining Personal Productivity
3. 10 Tips for Project Success
4. A Leadership Parable
5. Making Hard Choices

I’m looking forward to 2014 and sharing more thoughts with you as well as learning from your comments and feedback.

Let’s make 2014 the best year yet!  Have a great New Year!!

 

 

If you would like help developing your project management or leadership skills contact me at carol@delta-group-llc.com.  I can help you create clarity around your goals, develop a strategy to reach them and support your during your efforts.

Quote for June 13th

I learned that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything… at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.

Dan Millman

It’s Time to Focus

As you start your week and look at all the things that you need to accomplish each day do you feel overwhelmed?  It’s easy to get dragged down by all that requires our attention.  The key is to get a good handle on what needs to happen and make a plan to get it done.  The first step is to identify the important things that must be accomplished this week.  Then you have to create space and time to get them done.

To make the most of the time you spend on the important items you must focus clearly on the task at hand.  This can be very hard to do in this busy and noisy world.  However, there are several steps you can take to help clear the air around you to get things done.

Tips:

1. Know your peak time.  When are you most productive? Is it early morning, late morning, or afternoon?  Use this time to get the things done that need the most attention and focus.
2. Block time on your calendar.  Schedule an appointment with yourself to get work done during your peak time.  This will allow you time and space to focus your attention on the important tasks.
3. Tune out.  Close your email, turn off the ringer on your phone, and close any instant messaging programs.  This is time to focus so eliminate or minimize distractions.
4. Get your energy up.  Do something that will raise your energy level.  Listen to music that gets you charged up, take a quick walk at a brisk pace, close your eyes and get yourself centered or whatever works for you.
5. Just do it.  Now that you’ve cleared time and distractions sit down and get to work.  Keep your mind on the task at hand and table other thoughts that come wandering in.  If needed make a note and get back to work.
6. Celebrate completion.  Take a minute to relish the feeling of getting it done!  Check it off your to-do list and now it’s time to get moving on the next item.

If you start the week with a plan of how and when you will get things done, starting with the important items you will be much more successful in reaching those goals.  Know that things may come up that change your plans and force you to reorganize your time.  That’s okay.  If you have identified the big items to get done you will keep them in your sights and get them done.  The smaller, less important tasks will be the ones that move around instead of the important ones.  It’s easier to make room for the small tasks than it is the big ones.  Start big and work your way down.  You will get more done than starting small and working up.

Plan to focus and then work your plan.  Have a great and productive week.

Quote for Jun 4th

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
John Wooden

Interesting Articles for May

Here are some of the inspiring articles I have read in the past month.  I hope you enjoy them as well.

• Here is a great look at what makes you a leader from Brian Smith.  When Will I Know I’ve Become a Leader?
• From Switch and Shift here is a post that explores types of leaders and how you can move into leadership.  Not a Born Leader – So What
• This article looks at a key issue for women leaders – likability and addresses the misconceptions around this topic.  By Marianne Cooper on Harvard Business Review.  For Women Leaders, Likability and Success Hardly Go Hand-in-Hand
• An interesting look at the characteristics of creative leaders from Workplace MOJO.  8 Characteristics of Creative Leaders
• A wonderful reminder that when one door closes another on opens.  From Dan Forbes at Lead with Giants.  When One Door Closes
• Tim Elmore provides a wonderful list of questions to ask when establishing your priorities, from Growing Leaders.  How to Establish Your Priorities
• This is a new take on SMART goals – how to use the SMART idea for managing your time.  From Pinnacleceo’s Take.  Get SMART with Your Time
• Tina Del Buono, PPM Blog, provides a fantastic look at how to use your time wisely.  Using Time Wisely

Share this:

This is the key to time management – to see the value of every moment.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Time Management Quote – Apr 29th

“Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. All work takes place in time and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable, and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.”

Peter F. Drucker

Sharpen Focus to Achieve Goals

To reach your goals you must focus on them.  Focusing involves two unique steps, sight and sharpness.  Like using binoculars you must first look in the right direction, get the object in your sights.  Next you have to adjust the binoculars so you can see the object clearly.  Focusing on your goals requires the same two steps.

First you must know what to look at, what is the goal you want to accomplish.  What are your long term and short term goals?  What things do you need to do to reach these goals?  At this stage it is important to step back and look at where you want to go and what path you want to take to get there.  If you want to have a balance in your life between work and family then you will need to create goals around how much you will work or how you will prioritize family involvement.  Start with the high level goals such as “Spend more time with my family” and “Work less on weekends”.  Now you have an idea of what you will be focusing on, and it’s time to get clear on what that means.

Once you know what your goal looks like you need to sharpen your focus.  This goal must be something that you have clearly defined.  You know what it is, you know what it looks like, how your life will be different, and how you will feel upon successfully reaching it.  This is similar to the idea of adjusting the binoculars to get the image clear in your sights.  The more clearly you can describe and visualize the goal and life after reaching it the easier it will be to bring it into focus.  This means more than just saying “I will spend with my family”.  It means being crystal clear such as “I will be home for dinner with my family at least 4 days each week and I will not work on weekends”.  The second version is much more specific and it’s easier to see if you are meeting this goal.

The first step is to identify what is your goal and then you get clear on what it means to you.  Taking these two steps will help you take action.  You will know where you’re headed and how you are going to get there.  It takes vision and clarity to reach your goals so improve your focus by defining your goals and getting clear on what that goal means to you.  Once you have these in your sights you can create the action steps needed to reach them.  You will be on your way!

Regain Control of Your Time – FREE Webinar

Are you struggling with all the things you have to do each day?  Wondering how to get it all done?  Managing your time is a critical skill to help you achieve your goals and get things done.  In this webinar we will cover the benefits of time management, the types of activities that we all face and review key strategies to gaining control over your time and activities.

Topics:

• Why Manage Time
• Types of Activities
• Keys to Controlling Your Schedule
• Next Steps

***

I spent 20+ years in corporate America, moving from process engineer to supervisory positions overseeing people in multiple factories both domestically and internationally.

I started with little training in critical thinking.  I just jumped in and learned along the way.  Now, I’m sharing what I learned.

Date: April 17, 2013

Webinar Time: 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time

Cost: Free!

Register at: Keys to Regaining Control of Your Schedule

Bonus: All participants will receive handout materials

Post questions you’d like answered here. I’ll do my best to answer yours during the webinar.

Interesting Articles from March

Here are some of the interesting articles that I read during March.  I hope you find them interesting and find some helpful information.

Leadership:

• This is a great look at how to handle mistakes.  I have long been a believer that when things go wrong the best thing to say is “I made a mistake” and move forward from there.  From Dan Rockwell at Leadership Freak. I Made a Mistake
• From Mark Hopkins at Great Leadership is a wonderful reminder that developing trust goes a long way towards helping teams perform better and achieve more.  The basis of this approach is “Carefrontation”.  Carefrontation – Ultimate Leadership Trait
• An interesting look at leadership in today’s world from Switch and Shift.  Leading today is very different than it was even 10 years ago; the speed of change and communication has changed the leadership landscape.
  

 

Here are some of the interesting articles that I read during March.  I hope you find them interesting and find some helpful information.

Leadership:

• This is a great look at how to handle mistakes.  I have long been a believer that when things go wrong the best thing to say is “I made a mistake” and move forward from there.  From Dan Rockwell at Leadership Freak. I Made a Mistake
• From Mark Hopkins at Great Leadership is a wonderful reminder that developing trust goes a long way towards helping teams perform better and achieve more.  The basis of this approach is “Carefrontation”.  Carefrontation – Ultimate Leadership Trait
• An interesting look at leadership in today’s world from Switch and Shift.  Leading today is very different than it was even 10 years ago; the speed of change and communication has changed the leadership landscape. 6 Contrarian Reasons Why You’re Lucky to Be a Leader Today

 

Productivity:

• Life Hacker reminds us that spending highly focused time on a project is better than spending ling hours getting it done.  Do Less and Focus Hard – If You’re Busy You’re Doing Something Wrong
• Do you have problems keeping track of everything on your calendars?  Between work and home many of us have multiple calendars that must be combined to see what is happening next.  Here is a wonderful way of streamlining your calendars from Simple Productivity Blog.com.  Streamlining Calendars
• When we are in a position where we say “Do more with less” it is counterproductive.  Dan Rockwell shows us why it doesn’t work long-term in this article. Why Do More with Less is Stupid

 

Hope you enjoy these articles.  Please share what has inspired you recently.

Productivity:

• Life Hacker reminds us that spending highly focused time on a project is better than spending ling hours getting it done.  Do Less and Focus Hard – If You’re Busy You’re Doing Something Wrong
• Do you have problems keeping track of everything on your calendars?  Between work and home many of us have multiple calendars that must be combined to see what is happening next.  Here is a wonderful way of streamlining your calendars from Simple Productivity Blog.com.  Streamlining Calendars
• When we are in a position where we say “Do more with less” it is counterproductive.  Dan Rockwell shows us why it doesn’t work long-term in this article. Why Do More with Less is Stupid

 

Hope you enjoy these articles.  Please share what has inspired you recently.